


Tightrope

by killerxcanaries



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ava Sharpe Needs a Hug, Break Up, Eventual Happy Ending, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, I'm Sorry, Sara Lance Needs a Hug, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe Angst, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe-centric, The Waverider (DC's Legends of Tomorrow)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24499939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerxcanaries/pseuds/killerxcanaries
Summary: "You didn't do anything wrong, Ava," Sara said as she opened her eyes, tears forming in them as she saw the tears that had welled up in Ava's eyes."Then why?" Ava whispered."Our whole relationship...we were walking on this tightrope, just waiting for something to come from out of nowhere and knock us off of it. We've been close to getting knocked off far too many times before for it to be normal or healthy, Ava."--Sara can't stop thinking about the legends' zombie encounter that had killed them all, and thinks that Ava would be in a lot less pain if she never had to see Sara die in front of her again. (set after 5x14)
Relationships: Sara Lance & Ava Sharpe, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 86
Kudos: 214





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to write an avalance fic but my original idea of fluff turned into angst because i find writing angst a lot easier, so i apologize in advance for this <3

Three weeks had passed since the legends had been rescued from their television parodies, and to say that the encounters with zombies had been forgotten would be an overstatement. The legends- sans Charlie- still remembered their deaths in vivid detail, but they all tried to push the events behind themselves. They were still alive today, and that's all that mattered to most of them.

But that act of pretending that everything was perfectly fine even though they had been attacked to death by the undead was physically impossible for one of the legends to do, and the memory was like a broken record that kept on repeating itself over and over again in her mind constantly.

To say that Sara had never been killed would be a lie, and every single one of the legends knew the story of at least one of her previous encounters with death. That was the primary reason why, when the legends all returned back to the Waverider with their limbs intact and their co-captains perfectly healthy, they all thought the events could be put behind them, and the events most-likely wouldn't affect Sara that much or impair her ability to captain the ship.

But in her past encounters with death, Sara had died and had been saved. She could move on with her life, because she was alive again.

This encounter was so much different on so many different levels, though, and Sara honestly did not know how she'd be able to function correctly with the knowledge of the event plastered in her mind.

Sara could vividly remember every single detail of that day, and she wished, more than anything in the world right now, that she could somehow erase the memory from her mind completely. As each of the legends died, their bodies would hit the ground, the impact of the zombies yanking them down from their higher-ground positions onto the floor making a thumping sound that could somehow be heard over the constant groaning the zombies were doing. As Sara felt her legs getting pulled out from under her, the throbbing of her back and head as they collided roughly with the pool table underneath her were drowned out by the sounds of the pack of zombies beginning to claw at her top and pants.

Even more vividly than the rest, though, was Sara's memory of Ava's scream of her name, her voice breaking as she helplessly called out to her girlfriend. And the sound of Ava crying as the zombies began to tear into her limbs. And the way Sara was numb to the pain radiating from her limbs as they began to bleed from the teeth latching onto her skin from every direction, because the last thing Sara heard before dying was the sound of Ava's broken scream and the way her voice shook as she cried.

Sara would never, _ever_ , be able to forgive herself for dying in front of Ava.

Sure, it wasn't Sara's fault. She didn't choose to die, and she didn't choose her way of death to be by a zombie apocalypse tearing her body apart into pieces. But she still allowed herself to fall in front of Ava, and Ava didn't deserve to have to watch someone she loved die.

So, after three painstakingly-heartbreaking weeks of thinking, and debating, and reluctantly having to accept fate, Sara finally realized that there was only one way to change the fact that she had caused Ava pain.

And sure, Sara's solution would just bring Ava more pain, but short-term pain was a lot more manageable than the long-term pain Ava would have to endure if Sara died in front of Ava somewhere in the future and wasn't able to be brought back to life again.

After arriving back on the Waverider after a mission, the legends all high-fived one another before parting ways to change out of their period clothing and into their everyday outfits. As Ava slipped her hand into Sara's to walk back to their room on the ship, Sara squeezed her hand a little tighter, savoring the fact that this would most-likely be the last time Sara's hand would be in Ava's. She tried to both memorize and forget the way their fingers slid perfectly between each other's, the way their palms pressed directly against each other’s, and the way their hands were practically made to be held in the other person's.

As Ava began unzipping her dress and slipping out of it, she smirked back at Sara, walking over and wrapping her arms around Sara's waist. Ava pressed a kiss to Sara's neck before pressing her lips against the other blonde's, and Sara immediately responded back by placing her hands on the small of Ava's back before tightly wrapping her arms around her waist, pressing her lips even harder against Ava's. Sara shut her eyes and tried to imprint this memory into her mind, never wanting to have to live in a world where she wouldn't be able to kiss Ava Sharpe, but she knew there was no other way that things could work out for them both.

Sara pulled away first, taking a deep breath before opening her eyes, finding Ava looking back at her with so much love in her gaze that Sara felt herself starting to crumble, and she knew that she couldn't let this go on for any longer otherwise Sara would end up pushing the inevitable off another day.

"Can...can we talk?" Sara asked, and Ava's face immediately softened even more before she nodded.

"Of course, babe," Ava whispered, her tone soft and her eyes serious. She pressed a quick kiss against Sara's before stepping back and grabbing jeans and a shirt to throw on.

Sara sat down on the edge of the bed, her head down and her hands in her lap, playing with the fingers on one hand. As Ava turned around and found the sight in front of her, she frowned, knowing something was seriously wrong. Ava walked over towards the bed and squatted down in front of Sara, putting her hands on Sara's thighs.

"Sara, what's wrong?" Ava asked softly, and Sara had to shut her eyes tightly before opening them up and meeting Ava's.

"I think we need to...Aves, we can't be together anymore," Sara said, her voice breaking towards the end.

Ava's breath caught in her throat and she froze in place.

"S-Sara..." she whispered, not trusting her voice.

Sara looked down and shut her eyes again, trying to get rid of the tears that wanted to make their way into her eyes, because Sara knew that if one of them started crying, this would be even harder to actually do than it already was.

"Sara, please talk to me. What's going on?" Ava whispered as she slipped her hands into Sara's hands, squeezing them gently, and Sara shook her head.

"Ava-"

"I love you, Sara. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Aves," Sara whispered, and Ava let out an exasperated sigh.

"Then why? Why are you saying we need to break up? D-Did I do something? Because whatever I did, I'm so sorry, Sara. I'll fix it, I promise. I'll fix whatever I did."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Ava," Sara said as she opened her eyes, tears forming in them as she saw the tears that had welled up in Ava's eyes.

"Then why?" Ava whispered.

"Our whole relationship...we were walking on this tightrope, just waiting for something to come from out of nowhere and knock us off of it. We've been close to getting knocked off far too many times before for it to be normal or healthy, Ava."

"Why are you just letting go of us like you were the only one standing on that tightrope?"

"Because I could never live with myself if I was the reason why you were put through anymore pain!" Sara yelled, and that was her breaking point. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and her heart felt like it was shattering into a million tiny pieces.

"What are you talking about?" Ava asked incredulously, her voice raised as well.

Sara shook her head as she looked down, and Ava reached forward to cup Sara's cheek with one hand, tilting it upward gently so Sara's eyes would meet her own.

"Sara, talk to me."

"I have the memory of my death as you screamed my name stuck on a constant loop in my mind. You were forced to watch me _die_ , Ava, and then you died yourself. You don't need to be in any pain that I cause on top of any pain you might have to deal with in the future."

Ava scoffed, shaking her head.

"I was forced to watch you die because you were trying to save my life, Sara. You practically killed yourself for the team, so that one of us would be able to live long enough to save everyone else. Sure, it wasn't the greatest thing to have to watch, but you're alive and here now, and that's all that matters to me."

"Well it shouldn't, because your own life should be a lot more important to you than mine is."

"Sara, where is this all coming from?" Ava asked, and Sara let out a sigh.

"For weeks since we've been back, all I could really think about was my death and how I could make things right for you. Three weeks of thinking, Ava, and I can't keep thinking anymore. I'm tired. I'm done. The only solution that makes things easier for us is if we both just end things here, because then we can move on and not have to watch each other die in the future."

Ava shook her head.

"Sara, you were brought back to life. We all were, and we're still alive right now. Sure, we might die again in the future, but we'll be brought back again."

"There's going to come a day where we die- maybe from old age, or maybe from being killed again- and the legends aren't going to be able to bring us back and save us. That'll be it for us, and if I actually died before you actually died, you'd have to see me die in front of you again."

"Then I'll deal with having to cope with you gone years and years from now, and I'll be okay in the end. Sara, I'd rather have to watch you die and get brought back to life every single day of my life than to have to spend one more day without you in my life at all."

"Ava, I-I can't do this, not to myself and especially not to you. I'll live in a different room on the ship if you still want to be co-captains, or I'll leave the ship and the legends completely so you can still be captain, whatever you'd prefer-"

"Sara, you're not leaving the legends or the ship, alright? You've been on this ship far longer than I have."

"The legends are your family, Ava. They've been there for you since we found out, and they'll always be there for you. Me? I...I have places I could go, but you shouldn't have to move because of me."

"Sara," Ava said, her voice cracking halfway through it, and Sara shut her eyes tightly, the sound making her heart break even further.

"I'm sorry, Ava. I really am."

She let out a shaky breath, more tears forming in her eyes.

"You deserve better. You deserve so much better," Sara whispered, and Ava began full-on sobbing at the memories those two lines brought back.

"Sara," Ava called out again, but Sara had already gotten off of the bed and was making her way towards the door.

"Do you...should I stay on the ship, or should I leave completely?" Sara whispered, and Ava shook her head.

"Stay, Sara, _please_."

Sara slowly nodded, not being able to even look back at Ava because she knew she'd just break down even further if she saw the state that she had just put Ava into.

"So you say you don't want to cause me any pain, and yet here you are, doing exactly that," Ava said brokenly, and Sara walked out of the room with a fresh set of tears falling down her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara copes with the new pain she's experiencing in one of the only ways she knows how to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, yes, i did decide to continue this, and i'm going to keep this going for as long as i can figure out how to stretch it out for. as of now, i currently have a third part started, and there will at least be four parts right now. thank you so much to anyone that read the last part and said that they wanted more. i would say that i hope you all enjoy, but i'm going to instead say that i hope you enjoy the final chapter and don't hate me too much for this one :)

As soon as Sara was alone in a spare room on the Waverider, she immediately opened up one of the two bottles of whiskey that she practically had to force Gideon to conjure up, sinking down on the bed as tears continued streaming down her face. Everything that had been happening to the legends lately has been a lot to handle all at once, and this was the breaking point for Sara, as she couldn't find the energy within herself anymore to keep her feelings buried deep down beneath layers and layers of walls built to hide those emotions.

"Gideon, no one else is to come into this room, alright? Especially not Ava."

"Are you sure, Captain Lance? You-"

"More sure than anything right now, Gideon. No one else in this room at any point."

"As you wish, Captain Lance."

Sara hadn't been bothered to pour the liquid into a glass, opting to drink straight from the bottle instead. But, if she had been drinking from a glass, she would have been well over three glasses already in just a span of a few minutes.

She was currently thanking anyone that took part in making her the way that she was today, because Sara's high tolerance of alcohol came in handy right now as she continued drinking, even despite the liquid burning her throat as it went down for each sip. She got up and trudged her way towards the kitchen once again, knowing that there was no way that she'd be finding her way out of this post-breakup slump if she didn't have a constant supply of alcohol handy at practically-all times.

"Gideon, make me another two bottles, please."

"Captain Lance, I'm not sure that's a good idea if you don't want to seriously hurt yourself."

"Gideon, I know what I'm doing, alright? It's not all for now, it's for a while, okay? I'll spread it out, just...I need this right now, and I promise that I won't drink it all tonight or anything like that."

Gideon let out a sound that sounded as close to a sigh as the AI could provide, but nevertheless, the bottles were fabricated, and Sara was bringing them back to her room immediately. She didn't plan on running into any of the legends for at least twenty-four hours, where she was hoping she might be able to get a hold of herself by then. But for right now, Sara just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, which wasn't exactly the best idea, but it was the best idea that a bordering-on-being-drunk Sara Lance could think of.

It was all a constant cycle that night: take a few sips of the alcohol, let out a few sobs, angrily wipe away tears, scream out in frustration, repeat. That kept going on for hours, before Sara finally passed out at around three in the morning.

Sara was woken up the next morning by her phone ringing for the umpteenth time- why hadn't she shut it off the night before?- and upon picking it up, Sara saw Zari's name across her phone's screen. She groaned, pulling the covers up over her head as if being under there would lead her into a different life where nothing was wrong. She pulled down the covers and reluctantly picked her phone back up, opening her texts with Ava, whose number was still saved in Sara's phone as "my co-captain for life" with a heart emoji next to her name. Sara wanted to throw up at the sight that once brought a smile to her face each time she opened up their texts, but she forced herself to tear her eyes away from the contact name and down to the keyboard on her phone as she composed a text to her former-girlfriend.

**i'm not feeling the greatest, i think i might have a bug since i just got sick. go on without me today, hopefully i'll be fine by tomorrow. good luck.**

Sara left it plain and simple, hoping that Ava would get the point that Sara wouldn't be there and wouldn't think twice about her fake excuse. Sara wanted a day with her bed and her whiskey, and definitely wasn't ready for any human interaction at the moment. Ava's reply came back a few moments later, and Sara wanted to internally combust at the fact that the girl couldn't even leave Sara alone for a day without checking up on her. It was sweet, sure, but Sara wanted to be alone and did not plan on having to face her ex at all today.

**you're actually sick, or you want me to tell the legends you're sick?**

Sara sighed, shaking her head.

**i'm sick, ava, but i'm fine. i'll be there tomorrow alright?**

Sara had a feeling Ava still didn't believe her, but it wasn't Sara's problem to deal with whether or not an ex-girlfriend believed her lies or not, especially not today. Today, Sara was focusing on herself and herself only, and that was it.

**okay** **...feel better.**

Sara put her phone back on the bedside table after replying with a simple " **thanks** ", pulling the covers up over her face again before sighing. She didn't want to have to break up with Ava like she did, and now it was her fault that she was feeling like this, but she couldn't stand to know that she would have been the reason why Ava had to go through even more pain when the girl had already been through way too much already if they had still been together.

Sara reluctantly sat up, grabbing the half-empty bottle of whiskey from the night before and beginning to drink straight from the bottle again.

"Captain Lance?" Gideon's voice rang through the speaker into her room, and the AI sounded almost sad and hesitant.

"What, Gideon?"

"I hope you and Captain Sharpe will both be okay."

Sara looked down at the bottle in her hands, a deeper frown forming on her face.

"Me too, Gideon...me too."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The legends realize that something is wrong when only one of their co-captains show up for their next mission.

Ava sighed to herself as she slipped her phone into her pocket, shaking her head. Yes, she would always trust Sara no matter what, but Sara _rarely_ ever got sick. Like, Ava could maybe remember one time while they two had known each other where the shorter blonde had a slight cold, but besides that, Sara seemed immune to any and all illnesses.

Which is why, as soon as Sara had texted Ava to say that she was sick, Ava immediately grew worried.

Maybe the other captain was just avoiding her for the day, which would make more sense. Ava wasn't really in the mood to see her co-captain and ex-girlfriend anytime soon, but it was bound to happen either later that day or early the next. Ava had never been in a relationship that was like the one she had with Sara, and her life had become so dependent on Sara's that Ava didn't even know where she'd be today if she hadn't met Sara or the other legends. 

Ava raked a brush through her hair that had gotten frizzy from raking her hands through it several times throughout the night, and when brushing it out didn't change it much from it's previous state, Ava settled on pulling it up into a tight bun like she used to do as an agent for the Time Bureau. She put on the outfit that she had to wear for their mission, sighing as she looked in the mirror. Ava was never really one for wanting to play dress-up with the legends, but after Sara had spent a lot of time trying to convince her that the act would be a lot of fun, Ava had finally caved and found it fun to dress up for their missions. Now, looking at herself in the mirror, Ava only saw Sara and every single way that Sara had impacted her life or changed it for the better. 

Ava wasn't big into make-up, either, so she would have to go out there with the other legends and hope her splotchy face and red eyes weren't going to be as noticeable to them as they were to Ava. Ava hadn't slept at all the night before, just sitting on the bed with Sara's pillow clutched tightly against her chest as sob after sob came out of Ava's mouth and tear after tear fell from Ava's eyes.

Sure, Sara had broken up with Ava before, and Ava had turned down Sara before. But this time was different. The past two times led to Sara and Ava eventually getting back together in the end, but this one felt different. Ava wasn't sure if there would be any way of saving their relationship, because the way Sara was so determined in pushing Ava away in what she hoped would bring Ava happiness only made Ava's hopes dwindle. 

As Ava made her way out to the bridge, almost all of the legends froze in place as they took in Ava's appearance. 

"Hey, Ava," Nate said softly, and Ava smiled back at him. 

"Hey? Um...so Sara had texted me saying that she wasn't feeling the greatest and wouldn't be joining us on this mission, so it'll just be us. She said she's hoping that she'll feel better if we have any more missions later, otherwise she'll probably be feeling better by tomorrow."

Ava forced her small smile to go slightly wider before bracing her arms on the console in the center of the room.

"Gideon? Please plot a course to 1984."

"Plotting a course, Captain Sharpe."

Ava's smiled softly at the new title before snapping herself out of the mini-trance she was just in as she sat down in the captain's seat, letting all of the legends sit down first before taking off. Charlie took another glance at Ava before turning to Zari, who was seated next to her.

"Cap's been crying, right? It's not just me?" Charlie whispered where only Zari could hear her, and Zari sighed, nodding.

"It's pretty obvious that something happened, and we need to find out what it was," she whispered back, and before Charlie could respond, Ava landed the Waverider and everyone was already standing up to get ready to leave. 

After the mission was over, Ava immediately walked towards her room, mumbling a, "good job out there, team," as she walked away, and the remaining legends all looked at each other.

"Something happened between Ava and Sara, and we need to figure out what it is," Zari said and the others nodded.

"Her eyes were all red and her face was puffy earlier, and she kept on trying to smile as if everything was perfectly fine, but that was not a real smile," Nate said with a frown.

"Maybe the caps broke up," Mick offered before taking a sip of a beer, and the legends all turned towards him, eyes going wider at the realization that it could be possible, though none of them really wanted it to be true. 

Sara and Ava were like the parents of their group, and if they had broken up, things would be very different than they have been. If that was actually the case, the legends were all really hoping that they wouldn't be forced to pick sides, because they all knew that the decision would be impossible to do. 

"If the caps broke up, then we need to figure out how to get them back together again, 'ight? We can't be a team if we're not all on the same page," Charlie said, arms crossed over her chest. 

The group nodded, and Zari looked over towards the console, remembering details from their talk before the mission.

"Guys...Ava had said that Sara _texted_ her, but they wouldn't have had to text each other if they were staying in the same room."

"Z, come with me. We're gonna get to the bottom of this. You three try to find Sara, 'kay?" Charlie addressed Behrad, Nate, and Mick, and they all nodded.

"We're on it," Behrad said with a salute that made Zari shake her head with a slight smile at her brother's antics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so...i realized while editing this that i wrote this and the next few chapters as if there was only one zari on the ship and not two? so let's just pretend that the last few minutes of 5x14 didn't happen in this fic i guess? oops sorry zari tomaz i still love you though


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Behrad, Nate, and Mick split up around the ship to find their missing co-captain, Mick is the one that actually finds her in the end.

As Behrad, Nate, and Mick split up and began to search all around the ship for their absent co-captain, rooms on the ship were cleared quickly and declared negative for a sighting of the woman. They were starting to think that the captain might have left the ship completely when Mick walked past a room and heard a sound that sounded a lot like glass shattering, accompanied by a scream that sounded very close to their co-captain's voice. 

"I found the cap. I doubt she's gonna want to talk to any of us, but I'll attempt to get something outta her," Mick spoke into the comms before shutting his off completely as to not have any distractions or interruptions. 

Sara opened another bottle of whiskey, her previously-emptied bottle smashed into pieces on the floor with the remains of the last bottle that she had went through accompanying the new additions. Sara had two coping options- drink until she passes out and can't remember anything that happened, or fight. And while Sara could very easily head to the training room that the ship had and take out her anger against a dummy, this pain seemed to run through her veins and travel throughout her entire body, feeling as if it was an itch that rested right underneath her skin and just out of reach. For simpler types of pain, punching and kicking at a dummy might work. But for this deep-set pain that seemed like it would never actually go away, the only way Sara could even _attempt_ to act like her normal self would be with alcohol running through her system. 

As Sara heard someone bang against the door of the room, she rolled her eyes, taking a larger mouthful straight from the bottle as if to intimidate her unknown guest.

"Lance, team's worried about you and I know you're in there. They're all annoying and will beg you to talk if they find you," Mick said, and Sara rolled her eyes once more.

"Who sent you?" Sara called out, and it was Mick's turn to roll his eyes.

"Not Pantsuit, if that's what you're asking. Like I said, team's worried about you since you weren't on the mission today, and when they couldn't get anything from Pantsuit they sent us on a search party. Be lucky I was the one who found you."

"I'm fine, Mick. I'll be on tomorrow's mission."

Sara took another large drink of the alcohol and a sinister smile crossed her face at the burn that came after it. She leaned back against the headboard of the bed and took another sip, trying to push the idea that the team was more worried about Sara than Ava was out of her mind as she told herself that the only reason that was true was because Sara hurt Ava and pushed her away, so obviously Ava wouldn't be too concerned at the moment.

"Do you want company or someone to drink with?" Mick asked, and Sara cocked an eyebrow.

"Who says I'm drinking right now?" Sara asked in amusement, and Mick shook his head.

"Heard the smashing of glass, and figured it was a bottle of something. Plus, if I was going through whatever you're going through, I'd want a beer or something stronger."

"To be fair, you always want a beer."

"Doesn't mean I wouldn't want one more if I was going through something and wanted to be alone."

Sara didn't say anything as she took a few more glugs of the liquid, and Mick groaned to himself, sitting down on the floor in front of the door.

"What's your drink of choice right now?"

"Whiskey," Sara replied dryly as she took another sip. 

"From a glass?"

"I don't have nearly enough patience to pour myself however many glasses I must have gone through by now, so obviously not. That smashing was a bottle, and I'm downing another as we speak."

"I'm not one to care about health, and I'm definitely not one to get all sentimental and all that crap, but the team wouldn't know what to do without you, Lance. Locked in a room sick or drunk, is one thing, but gone completely is another, and we're the only originals left. I'd leave the ship before I'd let myself spend a day on this thing if the team had to figure out how to captain themselves."

Sara managed a small smile at that, but it didn't stop her from taking another swig.

"Who knew Mick Rory could actually be sentimental?" she said in amusement, and at the grunt that she heard through the door, Sara knew her words had the exact reaction that she was going for. "I've survived a lot of deaths already, and I've dealt with the death of a lot more people that all came with coping through drinking. If I didn't die from alcohol poisoning back then, I doubt I'll die from it now. But thanks for looking out for me without intending to, Rory."

Mick sighed before getting up and trudging back towards his quarters, needing a drink of his own. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding out what happened between Sara and Ava, Charlie and Zari attempt to comfort Ava while reassuring her that it's okay to not be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since i've never written multi-chapter fics like this before, i feel like i'm kind of really dragging this whole thing out when i could have been doing only a few chapters that were really long instead of doing a bunch that are shorter. i kinda wanted to build it all up though, which is why the last few chapters have only been around 1000-1500 words, but here's one that's over 2000 words. i know this has had a lot of angst and not much fluff but i promise you that the very end will be worth the wait (and hopefully everyone will like how i'm planning on ending this). but for now, enjoy some ava x charlie x zari bonding :)

Charlie and Zari made their way towards Sara's original room on the ship that had quickly turned into Sara and Ava's shared room, determination and nervousness coursing through both of their veins. As they stopped in front of the room, Zari sighed, turning to look at Charlie.

"What are we supposed to do if they're not in there together?" she asked, and Charlie looked over at Zari, shrugging after a few moments.

"We ask where Captain Lance is and what happened, and then go from there?"

Zari nodded slowly, bringing her fist up to knock against the door to the room.

"W-Who is it?" Ava's voice called out, and the two outside the door exchanged a look the second they heard Ava's voice shake, knowing things must have been worse than they were expecting.

"It's Charlie and Zari," Charlie called, and the two heard movement inside the room before Ava was instructing Gideon to open the door.

Charlie and Zari stepped inside and were immediately hit with way too many painful sights to take in. Majority of Sara's belongings were no longer residing in this room, leaving the slightly-open closet and dressers half-empty. There was a trash can on the floor right next to Ava's spot on the bed that was close to being full of tissues. A box of tissues sat on the night table on each side of the bed. And, when the girls allowed themselves to look up at Ava's face, they found her eyes glossed over with tears, tear tracks that had quickly been wiped away residing on her cheeks, and it looked like the captain was about to break down once again any moment.

"What's going on?" Ava asked with a smile, and the two sighed, making their way over to the bed and sitting down on either side of Ava, making the blonde look from one girl to the other in confusion.

"Is everything okay? Is there another anach-"

"You don't have to pretend in front of us, Ava," Zari said, and when Ava raised an eyebrow in confusion, Charlie sighed.

"Your eyes were red and swollen this morning, you had tear streaks down your face, your hair was pulled up when you've had it down a lot lately, you weren't smiling as wide as you usually do, you said that Sara texted you instead of saying you were with her, and all of her stuff is out of here," Charlie listed off, and Ava looked down, wanting the girls to just leave her alone so she could just break down and cry.

"Did you and Sara break up, or did she leave the legends?" Zari asked, and Ava had to shut her eyes tightly at that to hold back the tears brimming her eyes.

"We're still co-captains, Sara's just not feeling great today," Ava said softly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to actually say the words without inevitably having a breakdown.

"Sara's never been sick once since I've been on the ship, and Gidget could have just made her feel better," Zari said, and Ava laughed softly at Zari calling Gideon Gidget, looking down at her lap.

"Is everything okay between you and Lance?" Charlie asked, and Ava played with her fingers.

A few moments went by where the three sat in complete silence, before Ava slowly shook her head, and Charlie immediately looked over at Zari to find the other girl looking at her as well.

"Are you still...are you two still dating?" Zari asked, and Ava once again shook her head. She tried to keep her feelings buried, but Ava knew that as soon as she actually opened her mouth to talk about the subject, it wouldn't take long for the tears to start spilling.

"Did you break up with Sara? Or did Sara break up with you?" Charlie asked, and she honestly didn't know which instance would have been worse.

The two co-captains were always inseparable during every second of every day, and the legends all knew that. Having to face a day where Sara and Ava would have to work together at the same job, but not actually be dating? It didn't sound like the most ideal situation for any of them.

"She did," Ava said, pulling her fingers into her knuckles to make tight fists as she pressed her nails into the palms of her hands. She had learned, when trying to see if it was possible to feel physical pain after finding out she was a clone and wasn't actually a real human being, that doing the action could force tears to stay at bay for a little bit longer than they would have, and Ava needed to hold herself together for as long as she possibly could.

Zari looked down at the bed in sadness, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed what the woman was doing next to her. Zari slipped a hand into Ava's that was closest to her, preventing the woman from digging her nails into her hand. Ava looked up at Zari in confusion, and Zari smiled sadly.

"You don't have to hide your pain from us, Captain Sharpe," she said softly, and Ava looked back down, shaking her head.

"I-I'm fine, but thank you both for checking up on me. Sara and I...broke up...but we're still going to co-captain the ship together and everything will be fine between all of us."

Charlie noticed Zari's hand in Ava's and slipped her hand into Ava's other one, practically having to pry the woman's hand open from the tight force that she was using. Ava forced a smile on her face, and a fake laugh came out of her mouth.

"You don't have to worry about me, but I really appreciate how sweet you are both being. I'm okay, though, which is why I came on the mission today. I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't okay."

"You weren't using the mission as a distraction to get your mind off of the situation?" Charlie asked, and Ava shook her head.

"I've already gotten over it, and I'm fine."

Ava sniffed softly, and Zari looked up to see her attempting to quickly blink away the tears that were in her eyes, making her frown even more.

"Why are you pretending that everything is fine, Ava? You told me that you were my friend, and I thought friends didn't keep things from their friends?" Zari asked softly, making Ava let out a sigh.

"Because everything _is_ fine, Zari."

"Pardon my language, but that is bullshit, and we all know it," Charlie said, making Ava laugh slightly.

"I'm okay-"

"Because you're forcing yourself to pretend as if everything is okay, when it really isn't," Charlie cut her off, and Ava shut her eyes tightly, her head still down.

"I'm okay because I have to be okay, alright?" Ava exclaimed exasperatedly after a few moments, surprising the other two. "Is that what you want to hear? That I'm only okay with all of this because someone needs to be there to captain the team, and Sara isn't right now? Whenever Sara comes back, then sure, I won't be alright because it'll be hard to see her and pretend like everything will be perfectly fine. When Sara's able to captain the team again, then I can let myself not be okay. But right now? Right now, I'm fine."

Zari wrapped her arms around Ava, and Charlie did the same from the other side of Ava, and Ava didn't really know how to react. She had never had so many people care about her and her feelings before, and the legends came along and quickly became a lot more than just friends, but they became Ava's family. And this situation that she was in right now? Ava would never have expected to ever be sitting between two people that pressured her into confessing that she wasn't as okay as she pretended she was.

"We're sorry about you and Sara," Charlie said softly, and Ava allowed herself to nod slowly.

"It's-"

"It's not okay, Ava. It's something that happened, but it's not okay. And it's okay to not be okay, especially right now. No one is expecting you to captain this ship, and you and Captain Lance can both take time off. Charlie and I can co-captain the ship right now because no guys should ever be in charge of this thing, and we always have Gidget to help us if we need anything."

"Gidget," Ava whispered with a small smile, and Charlie rolled her eyes with a smile as she shook her head.

"Ava, you don't ever have to pretend on this ship, especially not right now. You can break down, and you can scream and cry as much as you want to, because that's what you do when you go through a breakup. If everyone knew about the breakup earlier, we never would have made you go on that mission with us," Charlie said, and Ava shook her head.

"I can't," she whispered, and the girls each hugged the women between them a little bit tighter. "If I tell myself that it's okay to not be okay, and I let myself break down and scream and cry, I don't know if I'd ever stop."

A few moments passed by, and Ava tried her hardest to push down the tears that burned her eyes from holding them back for so long.

"Then don't," Zari said, and Ava looked up at the girl in confusion. "Tell yourself that it's okay to not be okay, because it _is_ , and let yourself scream and cry for as long as you want to. We'll be here the whole time if you want us to be, or if you want us to leave, we can do that too."

Ava forced the corners of her lips to turn upwards slightly, but she shook her head.

"I appreciate all of this, I do, but it's...this is all a lot, and I..."

Ava looked down, shaking her head. A tear fell down her face, and then more tears followed, until Ava was crying harder and shut her eyes tightly in both pain and embarrassment. The only person Ava ever allowed herself to be _truly_ vulnerable in front of was Sara, and yet here she was, crying in front of two other people about the one person she trusted to see her like this. 

"I-I'm sorry," Ava said as she shook her head, but Zari and Charlie shook their heads as well.

"You have nothing at all to be sorry about, okay? Let it out, we're here for you."

"Hey, I'll be right back, okay?" Charlie said as she rubbed Ava's arm, and she looked up at Charlie with worried eyes, not wanting to know what the other girl was planning on doing. "I'll be right back, I promise. I'm just going to get something and I'm coming right back."

Ava nodded slowly when Charlie offered a small smile before walking out of the room, and Zari wrapped Ava in a regular hug as Ava began to cry against Zari's shoulder as Zari rubbed her back up and down softly.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Zari asked, and Ava shrugged.

"I-I don't know," she mumbled, and Zari smiled sadly.

"It's okay if you don't want to, we're here to do whatever you want us to, and you don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

The door opened a few minutes later to reveal Charlie holding three cartons of ice cream and three spoons, a smile on her face.

"I asked Gideon what your favorite type was," Charlie said as she sat down on the bed next to Ava and handed a carton and spoon to Ava, who looked at the two objects as if they were some type of creature that she'd never seen before.

"Sorry, eating ice cream straight from the carton is like...a _huge_ part of breakups. You just eat a ton of ice cream and cry," Zari said, and Ava raised an eyebrow as she looked from Zari to Charlie, who nodded.

"Seriously?" Ava asked, laughing slightly as tears still streamed down her face.

"Seriously. Now, open that thing up and let's eat some ice cream, Sharpe," Charlie said with a smile, and Ava looked hesitantly at the carton of ice cream one more time before opening it up and beginning to eat with the other two.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava and Sara see each other again for the first time since their breakup.

After spending a few hours talking, eating ice cream, and watching movies with Charlie and Zari, Ava finally went to sleep, the pain both not as heavy because it wasn't completely bottled up anymore and also slightly worse because attention was brought to it, which exhausted Ava. It also didn't help that the former Time Bureau Agent hadn't slept at all the night before and then went on an insanely-strenuous mission earlier that day with the team, so she was worn out and could use a good night sleep- or as good of a night of sleep as she could get with memories of her and her ex girlfriend swirling around in her mind.

Ava woke up the next morning and sighed, running her hand through her hair as she shut her eyes. It was another day, and while the past two days and now felt like one continuous day because Sara wasn't a part of them like she usually was, Ava was hoping that today could be a little bit better than the last, and that each day she'd be able to force herself to get over Sara little by little as the days passed.

Though, that notion went down the drain immediately when Ava walked into the kitchen to get some breakfast and found Sara sitting down at the table, a cup of coffee held in her hands and her head tilted down towards the table in front of her.

Upon hearing the footsteps approach the room, Sara looked up to find Ava there, and both women were set in a trance at both the the fact that they were standing face to face and at their appearances.

Sara had glossy eyes that looked bloodshot, she was wearing the same clothes she had been wearing two days ago when she had broken up with Ava, and she looked like she had been hungover, which scared Ava.

Ava had dark bags under her eyes from only managing to get around two hours of sleep in total between the past two nights, she was a lot paler than she usually was, and she looked a lot more vulnerable and less-tough than she did before all of this.

"Hi," Ava said quietly.

"Hi," Sara replied, not much louder.

"I-I can leave if you want me to-"

"You don't have to," Sara cut her off, shaking her head as she finally broke their eye contact as she looked back down at the table. "I can leave-"

"Sara," Ava said, and the amount of pain that was in her voice as she said the blonde's name made Sara's head whip up to meet hers immediately, and Ava shook her head. "We're still co-captains, right?" she asked quietly, and Sara was convinced that her heart broke even more than it had two days ago at how scared and upset the woman in front of her sounded.

"Of course we are," Sara whispered, and Ava nodded slowly. "We're co-captains for life, remember?"

"Always," Ava whispered as she looked down, painful memories being brought back to her, and Ava was not only reminded of how she had to watch Sara's death, but also of how they had made that promise to each other while they were still together.

"I can uh...if you want us to spend more time not seeing each other I can just go and you can captain the ship on your own again, though," Sara said, and Ava shook her head.

"It's...it's fine, the team missed you yesterday, and if you're feeling better then you shouldn't have to just hide yourself from them and me."

Sara nodded slowly, looking down.

"I'm sorry, Aves," she said softly, and Ava felt her heart shattering at the nickname and how painful it sounded like it was for Sara to say.

"It's fine, Sara, it's uh...I'm sure it's for the best, right?"

"Yeah..." Sara whispered as she trailed off, and Ava took the few moments of silence as her cue that she was allowed to move from her position and get some breakfast.

"Do you want me to take this back to..." Ava trailed off, not knowing what to refer to the room she stayed in as. It was _Sara's_ original room on the ship, and then it became _their_ room whenever Ava would stay over, and then it permanently became their room on the ship when Ava joined the legends indefinitely, but it felt wrong to even think of referring to that room as " _Ava's_ room". It was always _Sara's_ room or _their_ room, and that's how it should always have stayed.

"You can stay," Sara said, the last word raising up in question, and as Ava gave the blonde a questioning glance to make sure she was sure about it she slowly approached the table, sitting down across from Sara and immediately keeping her head turned down towards her food.

"How was the mission yesterday?" Sara asked, and Ava shrugged.

"Good, I guess. We fixed everything, but it was exhausting, and I really wish I had gotten more sleep last night," Ava said with a slight laugh, and Sara frowned.

"How much sleep did you get?" Sara asked quietly, and Ava shook her head.

"You don't want to know," she said with a wave of her hand as she took another spoonful of her cereal.

"I'm guessing not the recommended eight hours of sleep?" Sara asked quietly, and Ava shook her head.

"I wish. That that number and subtract six and then you're there," Ava mumbled, and Sara's eyes went wide.

"Aves," she said softly, and Ava shook her head.

"I'm good, Sara. Well, I'm not _good_ , but I'm fine. I'm okay. I don't need your pity."

"That's not me pitying you, Ava, that's me saying that as your co-captain you should get more sleep than that."

"Then I'm sure you'd have a field day to know how much I got the night before," Ava said sarcastically, and Sara tilted her head in question, but Ava didn't give her an answer.

"I'll see you later," Ava mumbled as she got up and washed her dishes, grabbing the water bottle she had Gideon fabricate as she headed back towards...the room she was staying in.

Sara sighed, putting her head in her hands as she let out a muffled groan. This whole thing was supposed to make things easier on Ava, not make the women lose sleep over it all. If she was going to be a captain she needed to be well-rested in order to think straight and not put herself or anyone else on the team in jeopardy during a mission.

"Gideon?" Sara called uncertainly.

"Yes, Captain Lance?"

"Can you...is there any way that you would be able to encourage that Ava gets some sleep now? And um...is there any way you could not wake her up or let her know of any missions today so that I can take the team and she can get some sleep?"

The AI did not respond for a few moments, and Sara figured that it was out of the AI's desirable actions to tell someone what to do, so when Gideon spoke up again Sara was surprised.

"Captain Sharpe is in the room now with the light off, and she is trying to fall asleep as we speak. I told her that I would wake her up if and when we run into any anachronisms, but I will let her sleep through them, Captain Lance."

"Thanks, Gideon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone's been enjoying this story so far! what do you all think is going to happen next?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The legends leave for a mission, and Ava isn't too happy about being left out of the mission when they return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i know that the writers would never actually make something like this happen on the show and if they did break out into a huge fight i'd hope it wouldn't happen like this, but...i'm sorry in advance...

After getting notice from Gideon that there was an anachronism in the year 2047, Sara had immediately made her way to the bridge to find the other legends gathered there as well, and their expressions consisted of mainly shock and confusion.

"Okay legends!" Sara began, trying to ignore the way that the legends all exchanged glances with each other before turning back to the blonde.

"Uh...Lance?" Mick asked, and Sara looked over at him to find him with a raised eyebrow and, as if there wasn't always one there practically every second of every day, a beer in his hand. "Where's Pantsuit?"

Sara turned back to the team, attempting as close to a smile as she could.

"Ava barely slept last night and I don't think she got any sleep the night before, so I had Gideon tell her to sleep and not wake her up for today's missions."

Charlie raised her eyebrows, pursing her lips.

"You sure that's a good idea? I might not have been here at the beginning of it all, but I've heard the stories about angry Sharpe from the Time Bureau," Charlie said with a smirk, and Sara shook her head.

"If she gets mad about getting some sleep, it was my idea and not any of yours. Okay so...Hamilton and Burr are engaged in a duel with who knows how many other people in 2047, so we have to get them back to July of 1804 so they can have their actual duel."

"So basically we're saving two guys from the future and bringing them back so one can shoot the other?" Mick asked, and Sara rolled her eyes, nodding.

"Okay legends, we gotta go use our guns and ship to say no to this battle and make sure Hamilton and Burr don't throw away their shots."

The team all gave Sara a look, and she shook her head.

"Wow," she mumbled at their inability to appreciate her several Hamilton musical puns, sitting down in the captain's seat and having Gideon plot a course to 2047.

After the two men were safely brought back to 1804, the legends boarded the Waverider to recuperate after their mission. The team all froze as they saw the sight in front of them, and when Sara looked up, she felt a little bit intimidated herself. There, standing on the other side of the room, was an angry-looking Ava with her arms crossed over her chest, and the sight reminded Sara of when the former was still working with the Time Bureau.

"You took the team to deal with an anachronism without even letting me know that there was an anachronism to deal with in the first place?" Ava asked with a raised eyebrow, and Sara sighed.

"Ava-"

"Let me guess, you also told Gideon to tell me that I should get some sleep? What, your master plan was to have me sleep through all of the missions so you can take the team back?"

"Seriously? Ava, you looked exhausted, and you said that you had gotten two hours of sleep last night. If you went out there with barely any sleep you could've gotten yourself or the team hurt, and we both know that."

"Yeah? Well, something we both don't know is that I went out with the team two days ago after getting not a single minute of sleep the night before, and guess what, Lance? I was perfectly fine, and so was the team."

The use of Sara's last name and the way the two were verbally attacking each other made it seem like all of the time Sara and Ava spent together didn't even exist and they were still back in the Time Bureau days, just with Ava being a co-captain of the ship as well. Ava shook her head, raising an eyebrow.

"Let me guess, you weren't actually sick yesterday, were you? I've seen you sick a grand total of once since we first met, and it was a cold that didn't prevent you from doing anything that you normally do. So how sick were you really yesterday?" Ava asked, and Sara shook her head.

"At least I knew that I wasn't risking the lives of the team because of not sleeping."

"At least I wasn't the reason why someone didn't get any sleep and then had to go out and fix an anachronism. Because the last I recall, _you_ were the reason I haven't been sleeping, and you were _also_ the reason why I was forced to captain the team yesterday since you were too sick to get out of whatever room you're staying in on this ship right now."

"What are you looking for right now? What, are you expecting an apology for doing you a favor and then for not putting your life or the rest of our friends' lives at jeopardy because of my not-that-great decisions that would've been evident on the mission? Because if you want me to apologize for doing you two favors, then you won't be getting them anytime soon."

Ava shook her head, sighing.

"You're still the same stuck-up captain that you were when you first met, even despite there being a huge time difference in between. I guess some things never really change, huh?"

"Guys-" Zari tried to interject, but the two co-captains just continued to yell at one another as the other legends remained frozen in their places, afraid of what would happen if they allowed themselves to leave the room and leave the two alone.

"At least I'm capable of changing because I'm a human being that's original and not a clone."

"Sara!" Nate yelled, but it was as if the rest of the team wasn't even there as the two continued.

"Great, I thought we'd already established that by now. And because I am one, I'm designed to be the perfect woman, something you're not."

Sara laughed bitterly.

"You really think that offends me? Ava, we both know that I'm far from perfect, and I always have been. Hell, I slept with my sister's boyfriend who was our best friend, and then she lost both of us at the same time. I was in the League of Assassins and murdered more people than I could even begin to estimate. I've died more times than I can count on one hand. There's a lot more, and it's pretty obvious that I'm not perfect. But neither are you, so at least we're both screwed up."

Ava clapped her hands slowly, taking slow steps towards Sara in the process.

"Good for you, Lance. Do you want a medal? Which one will it be this time? The biggest asshole award?"

"At least I'd have a one up over you, so I'd take the award willingly," Sara replied with a smirk, her arms crossed over her chest as she shrugged.

"What about we give you another medal like at the Time Bureau signifying that you were actually successful in doing something for once, because the original one was a lie and never should've been rewarded to you in the first place?"

"Do you want the fucking medal back? Because we both know that it's still framed in your fucking house and you can keep it all you fucking want!" Sara yelled right into Ava's face, and if the two were in any other situation, they were only a few inches apart from each other and could very easily just lean in and press their lips against the other's. 

But they didn't care about that at the moment, and they didn't.

"I don't need a medal to acknowledge my fake success because even if my achievements at the Time Bureau were fake, you just willingly handed over the co-captain title to me, if I'm remembering correctly," Ava said, and Sara raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah I did, because I knew I was going to die and figured that I could trust putting the team in the hands of someone that I trusted at the time, but it's amazing how quickly you can instantly make someone lose all of their trust in you."

"At least I'm a trustworthy person that is known for being responsible, two things that you clearly lack and could've benefited from throughout the years. "

"At least I'm known for being fun and actually showing that I like the team. You can't even handle running a team for one whole day before you have the whole team worrying about where I am. Newsflash, Ava Sharpe: I am capable of taking care of myself, and you should be able to do that for yourself for once too."

Sara pulled her flask out of her back pocket, beginning to chug the liquid even despite the fact that the more liquid that went down at a time, the more it burned. But that feeling of pain was exactly what Sara was craving at the moment.

Ava scoffed in disbelief and whacked the flask out of Sara's hands, causing the container to fly out of the co-captain's hands as the liquid began tumbling out of it and onto the floor in a puddle below it.

"You bring a flask with you on a mission? There better not have been any alcohol in that thing."

Sara spit the liquid that was in her mouth before the flask was hit away from her right in Ava's face, leaving the other blonde in shock as she wiped it out of her eyes.

"Whiskey, to be exact," Sara said with a smirk and a shrug, and Ava narrowed her eyes at Sara.

"I guess I was wrong, and you really are sick," Ava said, and Sara let out a laugh.

"Nice one, Sharpe. Which drink would you like next time? Gin? Ooh, how about a margarita facial?"

"Fuck you, Lance," Ava retorted before turning on her heel and retreating back to her room, shaking her head as she walked through the halls in disbelief that everything had gone completely south in a grand total of three days.

"Fuck yourself, Sharpe," Sara yelled, hoping that it was loud enough for Ava to hear from wherever she had sulked off to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hated writing this because i know sara would never use the fact that ava was a clone against her if they ever had a huge fight but it was solely for the story and to build the angst. i know there's a lot of angst now and there will be a lot coming up as well (because this is mainly an angst fic) and you'll probably all hate me for what i make happen soon (in three parts after this one...), but i promise you all that if you wait for it there will eventually be some fluff at the end


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions are high as Sara and Ava have to co-captain the next mission together, and Sara does something in the middle of the mission that Ava wasn't expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm still sorry about the last chapter, so here i offer you sara protecting ava on a mission :)

As Sara walked out of the room, the legends looked around at each other, in shock of the events that had just unfolded in front of them.

"What the hell was that?" Zari broke the silence, and the other legends just shrugged.

"They...since the found out about Ava being a clone they barely bring it up because it's a sore subject, and then Sara just used that against Ava like it was nothing," Nate said.

"Have the caps ever fought like that before?" Charlie asked, and Nate shook his head.

"Back in the beginning when Pantsuit was director of the Time Bureau, they bickered a lot, but they never had a full-out fight like that," Mick said.

"Do you think she needs more ice cream?" Zari asked Charlie, who shrugged.

"I think they both need some time to cool-off alone right now, but maybe later we can see if they want any."

"Wait, when you two were with Ava you all ate ice cream?" Nate asked in a whining voice, and Charlie crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you let us join so we could've all have ice cream?"

"Because when you go through a breakup, you eat ice cream while you cry and talk about it, you don't throw a whole party."

Nate sighed, and Mick rolled his eyes at the other boy's actions.

"What if we lock them in a room together until they make up again?" Behrad suggested, and when the other legends actually debated his idea, he smiled wider.

"I mean...it's worth a shot," Charlie said, and the others nodded.

"When are we gonna do it?" Mick asked, only half-interested in the conversation.

"Not today, because they need some time to themselves after all of that."

The legends spent some more time talking about their plan before going their separate ways, only to be brought back into the room a few hours- in their time- later for another anachronistic problem with the timeline.

Sara and Ava barely even looked at each other when they were both in the same room, and the tension in the air would've been blatantly obvious even if you hadn't known what happened earlier.

"Gideon," the two co-captains called at the same time, eyes immediately going wide as they looked at each other.

"Gideon, please plot a course," Ava finally said quietly after a few moments, to which the AI confirmed that their course was planned and ready whenever the team was.

The team sat down in their seats and Sara got into the captain's seat to direct the Waverider to their destination, leaving Ava to sit in the seat slightly behind the captain's. The tension only continued to get worse, and the team knew that they needed to figure something out a lot sooner than they were planning on if they didn't want things to get even worse than they already were and were going to become.

The mission started off like every other mission, with the legends splitting up into small groups and attempting to find the location of whatever the anachronism of the mission was. For this mission it was a group of people instead of their recent one-or-two, so the team knew beforehand that they might possibly have to fight off several people at once in order to succeed with the mission.

After the group reconvened with each other and found the group, they began to fight off the members, and the huge group began to dwindle as member after member was knocked down to the ground by one of the legends.

As Sara kicked down the last person right in front of her she was going to move on and help the other legends, as they were all trying to battle against two or three people at a time, but she caught a glimpse of Ava out of the corner of her eye and her heart stopped.

Ava was standing there with her hands up in the air, three men facing her with guns held up towards her forehead. Ava knew that she could fight but figured that if she fought one of them the other two wouldn't hesitate to pull the triggers of their own guns, and she didn't really feel like dying today.

Sara immediately ran over to the four and stood in front of Ava and put her hands out to the sides to block Ava.

"What the hell are you doing, Lance?" Ava asked, which painfully reminded Sara of their original meeting days back when Ava and Sara weren't too fond of each other and Ava was still a Time Bureau agent. Every interaction between the two lately had been as if they took place back then, and Sara hated the fact that she lost not only a girlfriend but also a friend in the process as well with a burning passion.

"I'm sorry if you have to watch me die again right now, but i'm not letting you die," Sara said, and Ava froze, realizing that Sara was literally sacrificing her life just so Ava could make it out of there alive and the first thought that came to her mind was that she didn't want to have to die in front of Ava again.

Tears began to form in Ava's eyes, and she tried to blink them away to make it look as if nothing was happening.

Sara briefly looked back at Ava before turning back and kicking her leg up, knocking the guns out of the men's arms and having one fly backwards far enough to land in Ava's hands and the other two to land in each of Sara's own. Sara stepped to the side and held the guns up to two of the men's heads, and Ava slowly stepped forward and held the gun up to the third man's head with her arms shaking slightly.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Sara asked with a smirk as she looked between the three men.

The men began to back away and practically ran out of the room, making Sara laugh slightly at the pitifulness of someone that seemed so strong with a weapon but didn't know what to do with themselves when they weren't armed. After the team finished dealing with the remaining members in the room, they all looked around at each other, releasing what seemed like a collective sigh.

As the team tiredly trudged their way back onto the Waverider, they all went their separate ways to either go take showers or to go relax in their quarters. Sara hesitated on going back to her room, though, and as soon as the rest of the team was gone and Ava was about to leave, Sara knew she had to take a chance and hope for the best.

"Ava," she called out, and the other co-captain froze in place, but she didn't turn around.

Sara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose before shaking her head.

"Can we please talk?" Sara asked, and Ava had never heard the woman behind her sound so fragile in the entirety that they had known each other.

Ava turned around slowly, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked down at the ground. Sara shut her eyes before opening them back up and looking at Ava.

"I'm really sorry about what I said earlier," Sara started, and Ava _almost_ believed that the regret in her voice was real. _Almost_.

"Yeah, well, _I'm_ sorry that you think that everything's just going to be perfectly fine between us again."

"Ava, please just let me explain-"

"You've done enough explanations for the entire team today, Lance, and I don't have the energy for another fight like the one earlier. Thanks for the apology, I just wish that I believed it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> even though things might not seem like they're going to be okay right now, i promise everything will be in the end


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava tries to cope with her emotions after her and Sara's previous fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know majority of you already hate me for what i have put sara and ava through lately, and i apologize again for everything, but apparently i must want to get hated even more because i changed my original idea for this chapter completely and this is what i ended up with...

After their fight Ava went back to her room on the ship, sinking down on the bed and immediately burying her face in her arms. This was all too much to handle to begin with, and now their fight? Ava needed to have Sara in her life, and yet everything that has happened recently has seemed like a sign that they just wouldn't be able to work through any of this.

Being on the waverider was getting to be too much to deal with at this point, and Ava desperately needed to escape. She felt like the ship's walls were closing in on her, and knew that the only way to stop feeling like that would be to literally escape the ship.

Ava used her time courier to open a portal into her apartment, and as soon as she was inside, Ava made her way to her room to change her outfit. About ten minutes later Ava was walking down the street to the local bar, in desperate need of being able to drink away her feelings. She had already gone through her emotional phase of their breakup, and now Ava needed to be in the phase where she pretended that they didn't actually break up and everything was perfectly fine, and the only way Ava could ever attempt to convince herself of those lies was if she wasn't able to think correctly...or at all.

Ava was sitting at the bar with a dry martini in one hand, occasionally taking sips of it as she allowed herself to stare at the center of the room where couples and strangers were dancing up against each other. Ava didn't want that, the fact that a person could get attached to a random fling and then dust them off completely as if they were a mere ghost and didn't actually have any impact on your life in any way.

Ava wanted the hopeless pining at the start. She wanted the awkward tensions, and the nervous laughing, and the small smiles as they stared at the other person when they weren't looking. Ava wanted to fall so in love with someone that it suddenly would hit her like a truck and knock the wind out of her completely at just how in love with someone she really was. Ava wanted the feeling of needing another person close to her, and the feeling of getting to curl up against another person at night, and the feeling of someone else's hand fitting perfectly into her own as if they were created just for each other.

And she was lucky enough to have all of that up until about a week ago, where her entire life and hopes for her future were ripped out of her body and dangled right in front of her face on a stick, only to be thrown onto the ground and stomped on afterwards.

"You here with anyone?" a voice asked from out of nowhere, and Ava turned to see that the man sitting next to her was looking directly at her, one eyebrow raised in question.

"I wish," Ava said softly as she took a sip of her drink, and the man offered a small smile.

"If you don't mind me asking, who ended it?"

Ava raised an eyebrow, then turned back to look at the crowd.

"If I did it, I wouldn't be sitting alone at a bar wishing that I was still dating the person that I dumped and trying to drink away any memories I had with them."

The man tilted his head to the side.

"Is the relationship completely over?" he asked, and Ava rolled her eyes as she took another sip of her drink.

"I'm not into guys," she said dryly, and the man laughed softly.

"You're attractive, sure, but I wasn't making a hit on you or anything, I swear. I just meant that if the relationship had no hopes of ever fixing itself, then you should be sitting here drinking away your feelings for the other person. But if there's even a sliver of hope that things could eventually change and you two could get back together, you should be trying to win them back in any way that you can, because if a relationship is truly meant to last than it will make it through even the toughest of rough patches and still come out in the end being intact."

"That's..." Ava trailed off, shaking her head. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to be at a bar getting a lesson on love," she said, and the guy smiled.

"Trust yourself and trust your heart, alright? If your girl broke up with you for a reason that is unable to be ignored or gone past, which I doubt it really is deep down because you still want her back, then you should be letting go. If it's because of something that can be fixed, you shouldn't give up on trying to win her back."

"Thanks," Ava said softly, and although she knew that the advice didn't completely pertain to her or their relationship, per se, Ava took it as a sign that maybe she could go back to the legends at some point and while she might not be talking to Sara, or getting along with Sara, that things could eventually be okay on the ship again at some point.

"Anytime," the man replied, and as he downed the last sip of his drink he offered her a smile before getting up and disappearing to somewhere else in the room.

After another two drinks Ava decided that she needed to be sober enough to get back home and she could just finish drinking whatever she had there, so she paid before exiting the bar and heading back in the direction of her apartment building. Ava was two blocks away from her street when something came at her from out of nowhere and hit her straight in the face, knocking her out cold as her limp body collapsed onto the ground in a heap of loose limbs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the other day i was thinking about what would have happened if ava was the one abducted by aliens instead of sara, and while i'm not going to put aliens in here or anything i didn't completely rule out the idea of ava being kidnapped, thus why this was written instead of my original idea for this chapter. once again, i am very sorry


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When news of an anachronism alerts the legends and neither of their co-captains show up, they find that Ava is no longer on the Waverider.

The legends were informed of an anachronism in the year 1942, and they all made their way from their rooms and towards the bridge. They waited a few minutes for their co-captains to show up, and when neither one of them showed up, Charlie sighed.

"I'd normally say that we should just go and do the mission already, but we should probably go get one of them, especially after how mad Ava got yesterday not coming along with us."

"I'll go get her," Zari said with a sigh, scrolling through her phone as she made her way to Ava's room.

She knocked on it and received no reply, sighing.

"Gidget?"

"Miss Tarazi, I regret to inform you that Captain Sharpe is not on the ship at this time."

"Not on the ship? Where did she go?"

"I am not quite sure, but she left last night and has not returned since. I will try to pinpoint her location and get back to you when I can locate her."

"Thanks, Gidget," Zari replied, trudging back to the others.

"Where's the cap?" Mick asked, and Zari shook her head.

"Ava left the ship last night and hasn't come back. Gidget's trying to find her."

"We have to get Sara then. Mick, where was she when you found her?" Nate asked, and Mick grumbled.

"If she gets mad at us, that's on you."

The legends all followed Mick to a hallway that they had never been down before that was full of empty rooms, stopping in front of one of them. Mick knocked on the door, not hearing a response.

"Lance," Mick called, and after a few moments the door opened, revealing a disheveled-looking Sara with a bottle of whiskey in her hand and her hair up in a messy bun.

"O-Oh, hi everyone. I uh...didn't know you all knew where I was. What's going on?"

"Mrs. Captain left the ship last night and hasn't come back, and we need a captain for a mission," Nate said, and Sara sighed, attempting to rub the tiredness from her eyes before nodding slowly.

"Okay, fine. Let me change and I'll be out in a minute."

The team all nodded and made their way back to the bridge, sitting down in their seats.

"Do we think cap's left forever, or just for today?" Charlie asked softly, receiving shrugs from the other team members.

"Sara and Ava were meant to be with each other, and they're meant to captain this team together. We shouldn't have to do this without them, and they shouldn't have to do anything without each other," Behrad said sadly.

"Okay legends, let's go," Sara said, and by the way her words were slurring together, the team could tell that their captain was partially-drunk.

"Perfect, a drunk captain," Charlie mumbled to herself as Sara brought the team to 1942.

Sara would pause several times during their mission, head off to a place that wasn't in the middle of their fight, and take sips of the flask that was in her back pocket. The legends caught her doing it a few times and figured that the only way the mission would get completed was if they relied on each other and not on their captain that wasn't in the right mindset to give them direction that could be trusted.

After returning back to the ship, Sara turned to the team.

"Where did Ava go when she left the ship?"

The legends all shrugged, and Sara narrowed her eyes at them.

"Gidget's trying to track her, but we didn't even know she was gone until we went to find her before the mission and she wasn't in her room."

Sara looked down and sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Okay. I'm gonna go to our place... _her_ place...and try to get her to come back to the ship."

"Do you want company?" Charlie asked, and Sara shook her head.

"She might not even let me in, but she probably doesn't want a whole group of people there right now after what happened yesterday. Thanks, though."

Charlie nodded, and Sara headed back to her room to grab a spare courier that Ava had given Sara. She opened a portal to the hallway outside Ava's apartment, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Ava, can I please come in? I'm really sorry about yesterday, and the legends are all really worried about you. You don't have to forgive me, but we need to talk still."

Sara sighed after a few minutes went by without any answer, pulling the key out of her pocket.

"Alright, well, you never took this back so hopefully you don't get too mad," Sara mumbled to herself, unlocking Ava's door and walking in to be met with every light in the house being off.

Sara made her way through the house, opening every door up and being met with empty rooms instead of Ava sitting inside one of them. After going into the room she had saved for last- the bedroom- and not finding Ava inside it, Sara covered her face in her hands and groaned before pulling them off and shaking her head.

_Ava was probably just out at the moment, and would be back later on._

Sara sat down on the couch and watched television for a few hours, and Ava still hadn't showed up. She pulled her phone out and quickly unlocked it, clicking just as quickly into the phone app before calling someone that she knew Ava would probably mention her location to.

"Captain Lance? Is everything alright?" Gary's voice rang through the phone, and Sara sighed.

"Um...not really, but we're fine. Uh, have you heard from Ava at all today? Or last night?"

"Captain Sharpe? No, I had tried calling her last night and she never answered me, and I texted her this morning and she didn't respond to that either. I mean, I just figured that she was busy with the legends? Or the two of you were busy doing...things? Why, have you not seen her?"

"No, we...got into a fight of sorts yesterday, and she left the Waverider apparently and hasn't come back since. I'm at her apartment...I've been here for hours and she still hasn't come back here or to the ship."

"Have you tried having Gideon look for her location?"

"She's been looking but hasn't found anything so far. Um...we'll find her, she's probably just out right now and will be back here soon. Thanks, Gary."

"Anytime, Captain Lance," Gary replied before Sara hung up, beginning to play with the rings on her one hand.

It wasn't like Ava to go off and not tell anyone where she was going, and the only other times Sara could remember not knowing where Ava was were when they went to 2213 and found out Ava was a clone and when Ava was kidnapped and tortured by Neron.

Sara's head whipped up almost immediately, and she opened a portal back onto the ship as quickly as she could. She called an emergency meeting and the legends all showed up quicker than she imagined they would have, although maybe the fact that she wasn't acting like herself and was barely captaining the team and then suddenly called an emergency meeting had something to do with their rapid responses.

"I went to Ava's apartment and she wasn't there, and I talked to Gary and he hasn't been able to contact her since they talked two days ago. I think Ava might have been kidnapped."


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava finally wakes up after being knocked out, and Sara is upset that the team still cannot find Ava after days have passed.

Ava came to a few hours later, finding that her arms and legs were chained tightly to the chair that she was sitting in, her mouth was covered in several layers of duct tape, and the outfit that she had worn to the bar was no longer on her body, as she was now left in just her bra and underwear. Ava immediately jolted upwards into a position where she was sitting up more, her eyes wide in fear as she looked around and saw that she was most likely in a room of a motel, judging by how the room looked.

Up until yesterday, Ava missed Sara and longed to be with her again with every inch of her body and soul. Up until yesterday, Ava knew that deep down, she would never, _ever_ , be able to get over Sara, so if the two weren't together, Ava wouldn't ever be able to move on with her life without always remembering how nice what they had really was. Up until yesterday, Ava had a tiny sliver of hope that Sara might come back to her and things could eventually be okay again.

But even though yesterday did happen and Ava would probably always remember that it did, she wanted nothing more in this moment than to be in Sara's arms again, whether they were cuddled up in bed while dating or hugging each other as friends. Ava didn't really care which one she'd get at this point, all she really cared about was wanting to be out of this room and with Sara again.

Except her traceable time courier was still at her apartment, and she hadn't even told anyone she was going to the bar, so if any of the legends were to try to find her- and they most likely wouldn't, because they were busy with anachronisms and could always go to 2213 if they couldn't find her in the end- Ava was going to be very hard to find, because even she didn't know where she was.

Ava tried to pull her wrists and ankles out of the chains, only to be met with the chains feeling like they were tearing off her skin from the immense pain it caused her. She slumped back against the chair in tiredness, only to jolt back up again in fear as she heard the door to the room being opened.

In any other situation, Ava could have fought back. She could have ran. She could have called backup. But her phone was still at her apartment because she didn't want to talk to anyone at the time, her arms and legs were tied up where she couldn't move, and she was completely defenseless.

She'd been alone before, but sitting here right now was when Ava felt the most alone she's ever felt in her entire life.

"Please come find me, Sara," Ava thought to herself, holding her breath as the door opened and revealed a tall man with a beard and green eyes that seemed to stare right into Ava's soul, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Perfect, you're finally awake. It took you long enough," he grumbled, his low-and-gravelly voice making the hair on the back of Ava's neck stand up in fear.

\--------------------

Sara buried her face between her arms, screaming out in anger. It had been a little over three days since Ava had left the ship, and both Gideon and the team had been unable to find her thus far. It was stressing Sara out beyond what she thought she could comprehend and deal with, and she felt like she was going through a drug withdrawal from not being able to see Ava or know if she was okay.

If Sara was to guess, being gone for three days with no word mentioned to anyone, she was starting to doubt that Ava was okay anymore, and even the thought alone was too much to picture.

Ava _needed_ to be okay, because Sara needed her in her life.

Even if Sara and Ava were to never get back together ever again, Sara could never actually live without Ava in her life in some way, and she was really hoping that she would never need to even make those thoughts into a reality.

Sara made her way out of the room and made a beeline for Gideon, bracing her hands on the console in the center of the room.

"Gideon, any word?" Sara asked nervously.

"I'm very sorry Captain Lance, but I have not seemed to be able to location Captain Sharpe yet. I will still continue to look, though."

"Thanks, Gideon," Sara replied quietly, running her hand up through her hair before making her way to the kitchen to grab some food...or some alcohol...or both.

She was met with Zari sitting at the table on her phone as she ate a donut, and as soon as Sara walked in she looked up and offered a small smile.

"Hey," Zari said softly, and Sara nodded.

"Yeah...hey."

"We're gonna find her, okay? Ava's okay, and she'll be okay until we can get to her. You two are so strong that it's insane, and she'll use her strength against whoever has her if she really was taken."

Sara nodded slowly, letting out a sigh.

"We have to find her, and she has to be okay when we do," Sara said softly, and Zari tilted her head to the side slightly.

"She's not dead, Sara. Captain Sharpe would never die on us."

"She better not be dead because-" Sara started absentmindedly saying before catching herself in the act, shaking her head as she looked down at her plate and took a bite of a donut of her own.

"Because what?" Zari said, and when she didn't receive an answer, Zari shook her head.

"Come on, Sara. Sit, spill, rant, whatever."

Sara raised an eyebrow before giving in a few moments later with a sigh, sinking down on the chair in front of Zari.

"Yes?"

Sara sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"Because I can't do this anymore," Sara mumbled, and Zari raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Because I can't do this anymore, alright?" Sara repeated louder exasperatedly.

"Can't do what?" Zari asked softly.

"I...I can't live without her in my life, and breaking up with her because I thought it would be better for her was a huge mistake."

Sara looked down in defeat, taking a small bite of the donut in front of her, and Zari reached forward to put her hand over Sara's that was resting on the table.

"Ava's tough, she can survive through anything and when we find her she'll still be alive. And then, when you two are alone again after she's back on the ship, you need to tell her how you feel."

"Thanks," Sara said quietly, and Zari smiled brightly.

"Anytime, captain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise that ava will be found soon, because i already put her and sara through a lot and don't want to put them through too much more :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara isn't taking Ava's leave from the ship very well, and blames Ava's departure and anything that could have happened to her on herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you might have to dig deep to see it right now, but the story is slowly going to get happier from here until the end... :)

Another two days went by, and Sara was- to put it frankly- a mess. She's barely slept, she'd drink during majority of the day while pacing back and forth around the room, and her face was stained with tears at all times, her eyes seeming like they were permanently red and glassy.

After the first day that the team spent without Ava on the ship, Sara couldn't do the whole being-apart-from-Ava thing, so she did the closest thing that she could do. After everyone had gone to sleep that night, Sara took her pillow back into her original room on the ship that Ava had been sleeping in, got into the bed on the side Sara used to sleep on, and curled up with Ava's pillow clenched tightly within her arms, tears streaming down her face as she cried herself to sleep. That's how Sara had fallen asleep every night since the other woman left, and it all became so much like a routine to her by now that Sara had lost track of how many days she had spent without Ava.

The next morning came and Sara tiredly trudged her way towards the bridge to see if there were any anachronisms anywhere that she could deal with in an attempt to force her mind onto any other thoughts besides all of the horrible things that Ava could have gone through if she was actually kidnapped. But, not unlike how Sara had fallen asleep every night with images of Ava being attacked and the sounds of her screams ringing through Sara's ears, Sara knew that trying to erase the images of a hurt Ava out of her mind was a waste of time, because it would definitely be impossible to do. 

"Captain Lance," Gideon called once Sara made it to the bridge, and Sara was rushing over to the center console as quickly as she could in hopes that Gideon wasn't alerting her of an anachronism, but actually of an update on Ava's whereabouts.

"Yes, Gideon," Sara asked, trying not to get her hopes up but desperately hoping that it was news.

"I have tracked Captain Sharpe's time courier to her apartment, but, as you said that she wasn't there when you went to look for her, she probably left it there. I was also able to track her cellphone, and that is in a room at a motel."

Sara felt her heart stop at the news, running a hand through her hair.

"Gideon, if the legends ask where I am, tell them that I took the jump ship to find Ava."

"Captain Lance, are you sure that you want to go alone?" Gideon asked gently, and Sara nodded.

"I was the reason Ava left the ship in the first place, so I have to be the reason why she comes back to the ship. And if Ava's... _hurt_...then it's all because of me, and the legends shouldn't have to see her like that."

Before Gideon could reply with anything else, Sara was already off in the jump ship on her way to a motel in the next town over from Ava's apartment. Room eight, according the Gideon, was where Ava was, and Sara didn't even know what she'd be walking into the room to.

Best case scenario was that Ava wanted a break from the team and from Sara, so she made sure she was practically untraceable and was staying for a few days at a motel where the team wouldn't think to look for her.

Worst case scenario, Ava was kidnapped, brought to a motel, and was somehow hurt or...worse.

But Sara didn't even want to begin to think about what she would do if she walked into the room and found Ava _dead_ , so any other outcome would be manageable and they could deal with the consequences of whatever happened after they were both safely back on the waverider again. 

Sara got out of the jump ship and walked up to the motel, finding the eighth room and taking a few deep breaths before shaking her arms and legs out. She stepped back and then kicked down the door, Sara's eyes going wide as she found the room void of people sans for Ava.

Sara felt the wind get knocked out of her as she looked at the state that Ava was in because of her: there were cuts and bruises up and down Ava's arms and legs, her stomach was covered in what looked like rope burns, her wrists and ankles had dried blood on them from trying to fight against the chains that were wrapped tightly around them, one of her hands was all black and blue and looked sprained at minimum, and Ava looked like she was unconscious.

Tears welled up in Sara's eyes as she immediately ran towards Ava, kneeling down on the ground next to her and attempting to find a pulse. Upon finding Ava's very faint pulse Sara looked down at the ground, letting out the breath she had been holding as she shut her eyes and let a few tears fall, being extremely grateful that Ava had somehow managed to pull through whatever torture she had been put through to hurt her this badly. 

"Come on, Aves, let's get you out of here," Sara whispered brokenly, breaking open the chains and struggling, but somehow managing, to lift the taller woman into her arms as gently as she could. 

Sara managed to get Ava onto the jump ship in one piece, turning to look back at the room as more tears fell down her face. Sara didn't event want to think about what Ava must have gone through in that single room, and the fact that she was almost completely bare of clothes terrified her. Sara ran back into the room and found Ava's clothes and phone in the motel room's closet, grabbing it all and rushing back to the jump ship, bringing it back to the waverider as quickly as she possibly could. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara brings Ava back onto the Waverider with hopes that the latter will be able to be healed by Gideon and will live in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! i am so so so sorry for not updating this in a little while. i haven't been feeling the greatest lately, and with constantly having headaches and being dizzy a lot i haven't been able to look at any electronics for long enough at a time to write any more chapters, but i promise that i will still continue to update this once i can write some more. thank you so much for continuing to read, and once again, sorry for the wait!

Sara wrapped Ava's body up in a bathrobe that she had found in the motel room, picking the woman up again and carrying her as quickly as she could onto the waverider and towards the med bay.

"Hey, cap-" Nate called nonchalantly as he caught a glimpse of Sara's blonde hair pass by, quickly cutting himself off as he whipped around as took in the sight fully. "Oh my god."

Sara turned slightly, tears streaming down her face, and Nate immediately rushed over to Sara, not knowing which of the two women looked more hurt and disheveled. Nate gently took Ava from Sara's arms and she quickly walked alongside him as he practically ran with Ava in his arms to the med bay, carefully laying her down in one of the chairs and hooking the cuffs up to her arms, prompting Gideon to start a full-body scan of the injured woman.

Sara sat down on the chair next to Ava's and brought her knees up to her chest, allowing herself to let out a broken sob at the thought of Ava being too injured for Gideon to do anything to help her, shaking her head in an attempt to rid her mind of the thoughts but not being able to do anything about them. Nate turned around and wrapped his arms around the other captain as she began to sob into his shoulder, and Nate frowned at the sight of both of the team's co-captains, who were always the strongest of the team all, seeming so broken.

Sara pulled away a few minutes later, letting out a shaky breath and wiping her face quickly to rid herself of the tear stains that were left behind, shaking her head.

"Nate, um..." Sara began, running a hand through her hair, and Nate shook his head.

"I won't let the team come in here and bother either of you at all, don't worry."

Sara smiled softly, but shook her head.

"No, um...thanks."

Nate put a hand on Sara's shoulder, nodding.

"Of course."

Sara turned back to look at Ava, sighing.

"Can you captain the ship for the day?" Sara asked, and Nate's eyes went wide.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, or co-captain it with someone else? Just...can you make sure the team's alright for the day? I have to-" Sara cut herself off as she looked up at Ava, and Nate nodded.

"Of course. Hey, I know you're worried about her, and we all are too, but make sure that you take care of yourself as well, alright?"

After a few moments passed Sara slowly nodded, and Nate frowned before walking out of the med bay. Sara turned back to Ava, shaking her head slowly.

"Ava, I am so sorry that this happened to you," she whispered, and, of course, received no response.

"Captain Lance," Gideon called, and Sara sat up, nodding.

"Yes, Gideon?"

"Captain Sharpe has a broken arm and three broken ribs. The rest of the injuries are minor in comparison, and everything will be able to heal completely."

"She's going to be okay?" Sara asked brokenly, letting out a sigh.

"Yes, Captain Sharpe is going to be okay."

Sara carefully slipped her hand into Ava's non-broken one, leaning over her body slightly.

" _Fuck_ , Aves," she whispered out, allowing the smallest hint of a smile form on her face.

Ava might not have looked okay, or like she was going to be okay anytime soon, but Ava was going to _live_. And that was all that Sara really cared about in that moment, because she could help Ava deal with everything else. Ava was finally back on the ship, and she was going to live and be perfectly fine again eventually, and that news alone was better than anything that Sara could ever have wished for.


End file.
